I am Blessed – Adam in Japan #1

As far as I’m concerned, I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world.  Sure, my luck can change at any point, but right now, I feel blessed.  And that’s because I was given the opportunity to go abroad and teach English in Japan for almost six weeks at seven different summer camps.

Back in the fall of 2013, I told my friend Jamie that I wanted to go to Japan so badly, and I’ve been meaning to go for a few years, but I didn’t have the money to go.  She said something along the lines of, “Adam, you should do the Guy Healy program.”

I found out a little more about the program, and I essentially learned that they bring roughly 100-120 American college students over to Japan every summer to teach English to Japanese kids of all ages.  What really excited me is that they pay for airfare, housing, transportation, and food for the majority of our stay in Japan.

That’s right, it was no longer impossible for me to visit Japan.  So what did I do?  I applied right away, and about six months later, I found out that I was put on a waiting list.  That’s because I didn’t attend one of their partner universities, and they only accept a limited number of online applications every summer.

Long story short, (seriously, it’s a long story) I was eventually offered a position, and I accepted it in a heartbeat.  I was three weeks into summer school classes, but I chose to drop them and take an incomplete grade on my courses.  After all, this was an opportunity that I had been anticipating for a long time, and classes can be taken any time of year.

I had a farewell get-together with a bunch of my old high school friends, and then I left my home and dogs on July 1, the day before I departed for Japan.  My grandma’s house was closer to the Milwaukee airport, so I stayed there the night before my life was about to change forever… and it was definitely for the better.   But that’s what I’m going to leave you with today.  Well, that and a few pictures with captions.

Farewell, friends.  I'm off to Japan... well, I'm getting a haircut, and then going to Japan.

Waiting at the Minneapolis airport.

I might as well try some Japanese food at the Minneapolis airport before actually going to Japan, right?

In English, it says "Welcome to Japan" but in Japanese, it says "Welcome home/back."  I thought that was interesting. 

This green tea was the first time I spent money in Japan, and it was the first of many vending machine purchases.  See the つめたーい under the third drink in the photo?  That means it's a cold drink.

Until next time,

Adam

アダム